Protecting runaway couples state’s primary duty, says HC

Flooded with petitions (around 90 daily) filed by the runaway couples for protection, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued 12 commandments to Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to the check the flow with the creation of a two-tier redressal and appellate mechanism within the police establishment. Once in place, the mechanism could save up to four hours of the court’s time daily.

The directions came as Justice Sandeep Moudgil made it clear that providing care and shelter to the couple was “primary and essential duty” of the law enforcing agency and an application or representation received by the police was required to be dealt with utmost urgency and caution. The courts were the last resort.

Justice Moudgil asserted the constitutional courts were duty bound to step in for ensuring protection, whenever an individual’s life and liberty was under threat.

But the courts could not be allowed to become the first port of call for every apprehension of threat.

“The doctrine of subsidiarity demands that the state authorities, being the first responders, must act with swiftness, efficiency and with impartiality to address the grievance. The failure to do so on their part not only burdens the judiciary with preventable litigation but also dilutes the effectiveness of constitutional remedies,” the court asserted.

‘Appoint nodal officers’

Justice Moudgil directed the appointment of a nodal officer at each district headquarters and a police officer, not below Assistant Sub-Inspector’s rank, at every police station in the two states and the UT.

The guidelines included the immediate marking of representations to the designated police officer through the nodal officer followed by a thorough inquiry, an opportunity of hearing to both parties, and a decision within a stipulated time frame.

An appellate authority was also proposed to address grievances arising from the police inquiry, ensuring that the courts were approached only after exhausting administrative remedies.

Justice Moudgil added that four hours of court time daily, if saved following adherence to its guidelines, could be better utilised for disposing of old pending cases.

Before concluding the matter, the Bench directed the forwarding of the order to key officials, including the Chief Secretaries, DGPs, Home Secretaries, Advocates-General of Punjab, Haryana and UT senior standing counsel.

They were directed to formulate a mechanism based on the guidelines before circulating it within 30 days.

A compliance report was also directed to be submitted within a week thereafter.